


adventure of a lifetime.

by justwantedtodance



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: AU where Nathaniel isn't a buffoon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, It's a good time!, Light Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Season/Series 04, Smut, This fic was so much fun to write, Vacation, wouldn't that be dandy?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-06 17:23:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17943962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justwantedtodance/pseuds/justwantedtodance
Summary: "you make me feel like I'm alive again."Set in an alternate S4 what would be around 4x07 or 4x08 if canon didn't exist beyond 4x03. Rebecca and Nathaniel go on an adventure that's guaranteed to change their lives forever.





	adventure of a lifetime.

**Author's Note:**

> I've created a playlist for this fic if you'd like to listen along while you read!
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/user/ashleyms710/playlist/573jTVH3fusHppynHc8fsE?si=CPZvNAFGQN6hcpKYw-ELbw
> 
> Hope you enjoy my ramblings for 20,000 or so words!

The drip of Rebecca’s morning coffee fills the kitchen as she fusses with her hair in the hallway mirror, opting for an “effortless” side sweep of her bangs, which she realizes has taken her twenty minutes to perfect. She’s humming to herself as she walks to the kitchen but stops short and blinks rapidly when she catches sight of Nathaniel leaving her bedroom.

“Did I miss the memo that today is ironic costume day?”

“Nope, no memo.” He’s casually headed for the door wearing bright patterned shorts and a gaudy Christmas sweater, which means she’s either missing out on an office inside joke or she’s in the Matrix.

“Dude, you do realize it’s kinda cold in the middle of December, right?”

“Not for long,” he says cryptically and walks out the door. Rebecca shakes her head and gives her curls a last fluff before turning around to the kitchen counter to finish making her coffee before she heads into the shop. When she goes to pour in her sugar, she notices a message written in granules on the counter that says:

“Bora Bora?”

Two plane tickets lay next to it. Rebecca squeals in delight, and Nathaniel, who is waiting casually outside her door, chuckles when he hears her reaction. She races out the door to find him, and while he should be used to her randomly jumping on him by now, she goes for his back instead of his middle, wrapping herself around him like a koala, and her excitement makes him stumble.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeats in between smacking kisses to his cheeks.

“Merry early Christmas.”

“Officially, you are the best boyfriend ever!” Rebecca lets herself down gently and steps around to his front, her hands resting casually on his sides. “Okay, I know you aren’t that sneaky, so be honest. How did you manage to pull that sugar thing off?”

Nathaniel sheepishly looks from side to side. “I may have possibly confiscated your phone so you wouldn’t hear your first two alarms.”

Her jaw drops open in mock offense, and she slaps him on the arm for good measure. “How dare you! You could have made me late for work.”

“Aren’t you your own boss now?”

Reluctantly, she concedes. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, that’s a fair point.” He pecks her lips and pushes a stray hair back into her side swept bangs. “So, when do I get to see you without this _adorable_ Christmas sweater?” Rebecca pinches the light-up Rudolph nose, which sets off an array of twinkling flashes all around his sweater. She giggles, and he groans, stepping back inside her house with his sweater already in his hands.

“Sooner than you think. If you think I’m actually going anywhere wearing the vomit of holidays past, then you don’t know me at all.”

“Where did you even get …” She trails off as he peeks back around the corner of the hallway, shooting her a knowing glance.

“Paula,” they say in unison.

“You know, I should have expected that. She really does know her way around a hot glue gun. She’s tried to teach me, but I’m kind of a lost cause when it comes to crafting. I almost burned my fingertips off one time touching hot glue that wasn’t dry, and that’s when she gave up.”

Nathaniel re-emerges from her bedroom, having traded his flamingo printed shorts out for his typical dress slacks and fastening the last two buttons on his shirt. “Ah, much better, don’t you think?”

Rebecca leans against the counter stirring her coffee with a seductive smile on her face. “I don’t know, I was hoping you’d be coming out in something a little … less?”

His eyebrows raise, intrigued. “Oh, really?” Rebecca peeks out from under her eyelashes as she sips her coffee to hide her excitement as he closes the gap between them. “What happened to Miss ‘I’m Gonna to be Late for Work,’ hmm?”

Nathaniel traces his fingers up her arm and kisses the sweet spot behind her ear. Rebecca tries (and fails) to hide her shiver. “Well, it’s like you said, I am kind of my own boss now. And AJ won’t care if I’m running a few minutes behind. Though I should probably send a text to …”

Her thought floats away with the press of his lips to hers.

When she walks into the shop completely unaware that the buttons on her shirt are askew and stares off at Nathaniel a smidge too long to be platonic, AJ doesn’t bother to question it.

Rebecca returns home, kicking off her Converse at the foot of her bed and would love nothing more than to collapse under the covers, too lazy to wash the unsavory scent of yeast and peanut butter from her hair right now. After contemplating how bad her pillows would smell if she slept on them, she decides to jump in the shower. She turns on the water and tosses her shirt into her laundry basket when her phone chimes with a text alert.

Nathaniel   
  
**Fri, Dec 12,** 10:15 PM  
Excited for tomorrow?  
Like you wouldn’t believe. It’ll be nice to get away for a weekend.  
I hope you packed for more than a weekend.  
What do you mean?  
Check your ticket again.  
TEN DAYS?! We’re going to be gone for ten days?!  
Merry Christmas.   
Nathaniel...  
Is everything okay?  
It’s just… it’s kind of a long time. It’s not that I don’t want to. Believe me, I want to. But what about AJ? What about Estrella? I mean, I’m sure I could just dump a bunch of food in there and she’d be fine, but still, I don’t know if I can be away for that long.  
Don’t worry, I left instructions with Maya. She knows where the key is, and she and AJ get along great. We have cell service if anything happens. You don’t have anything to worry about.  
If you don’t want to go, I completely understand, and I won’t push you into something you don’t want to do. But you deserve this, Rebecca. Let yourself have this.  
Ok. You’re right, I’m sorry. This is just hard for me, you know?  
I know. I’ll pick you up at 7 tomorrow night?  
Sounds wonderful.   
I’ll see you then. Get some rest, sunshine.  


The day arrives, and Rebecca hasn’t slept but a few blinks, her excitement and anxiousness overwhelming her thoughts.

She spent most of the late night packing and re-packing her suitcase to make ten days of vacation wear fit in her suitcase, though she reminds herself that she is going to be with Nathaniel on an island in a private bungalow for ten days, which means she won’t be wearing much if either of them have a say in it. Still, she stuffs her suitcase full for her dream vacation, borrows one of Heather’s wide-brimmed hats (she won’t mind… that much) and calls it a night after three and a half hours.

When she finally lies down, she’s vibrating with anxiety. Good nerves because she’s always wanted to go to an exotic island with a very handsome man. But it’s not Rebecca’s brain if the bad nerves don’t shout to try to drown out the good. What if something happens at the shop and she can’t come in immediately to fix it? What if something happens to Paula or Heather or Valencia and she finds out two time zones too late? What happens if she and Nathaniel get in a fight and they’re stuck in the same room for ten days? What if she’s not equipped to handle it? What if it’s Hawaii (or what could have been Hawaii) all over again?

The next morning, she schedules an emergency session with Dr. Akopian. Rebecca lays it all out on the table in a blubbering rush of emotions.

“Rebecca, let’s take a step back for a minute. You’re thinking about things that are out of your control.”

“But I _can_ control if I’m here or halfway across the world so those bad things don’t happen.”

“Your work has survived without you there for a few days, correct?”

“Yeah, when I visited my mom, who is still a heinous bitch, by the way, when I went to Buffalo for Thanksgiving with Paula, when I took those few days off with Tucker…”

“So, what’s really scaring you?” Rebecca sits in silence for a moment, staring at her thumbs. The discomfort of being so vulnerable about her fears manifests in her shifting from side to side on the couch cushion and her mumbled response.

“You know the answer to that question.”

“Mind reading isn’t on my list of verified skills, according to my page on Yelp, but if I had to take a guess, you’re concerned that going on a vacation alone with Nathaniel might result in an overload of emotions either positively or negatively. The thought of committing to this when you aren’t sure you’re ready for it scares you. You fear that it won’t be everything you imagined it would and that later, you and he will come to regret it.”

Rebecca flops back on the couch. “Well, add it to your list now. Mind reading, verified by Rebecca Bunch. Actually, you probably shouldn’t say who verified it because then people can see the not-so-kind reviews I wrote after the whole doggy door incident.”

Dr. Akopian raises her eyebrows but doesn’t comment. Rebecca groans and runs her frustrated fingers over her face.

“I just don’t know what to do, Dr. Akopian. I mean, Nathaniel said last night that I deserve a vacation and that I should let myself have this, but I don’t know if I can. Am I really ready to do this?”

“Rebecca, only you can answer that question, but I can offer you my advice. I think you _are_ ready, but you’re holding yourself back. Give yourself some freedom to live. You put so much pressure on yourself to take care of everyone else in your life, when was the last time you stopped and thought if you were taking care of yourself?”

“Here we go again with the stupid butter commercial…” When Dr. Akopian shoots her an unimpressed look, Rebecca heaves a sigh. “But you do have a point. I mean, people dream of vacations like this. I don’t have to pay for anything, I’m going to a beautiful island with my incredible boyfriend, it’s amazing, it’s perfect. Like, on-paper perfect. But I can’t stop thinking about every single ‘what if’ to talk myself out of it.”

“Maybe, but you’re forgetting the most important one though.” Rebecca quizzically looks at Dr. Akopian waiting for elaboration. She gives her a reassuring smile and leans forward in her chair. “ _What if_ it’s the adventure of a lifetime?”

Rebecca’s thoughts halt in her head as she absorbs Dr. Akopian’s advice, which shakes her to her core. A flicker of hope crosses Rebecca’s eyes, and Dr. Akopian’s smile widens. If nothing else sticks from their conversations over the last year, she hopes that does.

“If you feel yourself start to drift into those negative thoughts, think about that. And even if it isn’t the best experience of your life, you can look back and be proud of yourself for taking a chance and learning from your choices. Everything is an opportunity to learn, Rebecca. You’re an incredibly smart woman, you love to learn, and I have no doubt in my mind that you will make the right decision.” Rebecca responds with a bright smile.

“Thanks, Dr. Akopian.”

Rebecca pauses for a moment, processing all of the jumbled thoughts in her head to weave together a cohesive decision. She thinks back fondly on the messy adventures she’s had when she takes a step back from her bubble and realizes how, even when everything wasn’t perfect, she still had fun and learned something about herself. For once, she’s going to take her doctor’s advice and live a little. Something tells her she’ll be thankful for it later.

Shyly, she asks, “See you in ten days?”

“Already on my calendar.” Rebecca grabs her purse and gives Dr. Akopian a wayward glance before she’s stopped. “Oh, and Rebecca?” She turns around just as she’s about to step through the door. “Good, bad, or in between. Enjoy every minute of it.” Rebecca nods her head, gives a mock salute, and closes the door behind her.

Dr. Akopian relaxes in her chair, content to see how far Rebecca has come.

Not a minute past seven, Nathaniel knocks on Rebecca’s door, and she answers it in a bright coral sundress with a giddy smile. Her suitcases sit by the door in a neat line, and she giggles as she watches Nathaniel’s jaw drop.

“Wow. You look … _wow_.”

“If that’s how you respond with my clothes _on_ , I can’t wait to see what happens with them off.”

He gives her a smirk. “You’ll find out soon enough.” She looks down at her feet, rocking back and forth on her heels and taking a breath.

“Hey. Before we go, can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” he responds warmly.

“Just … be patient with me? I know it’s hard sometimes, but I thought a lot about this, and I’m still a little bit scared, you know, with my past and our past and all, so—”

Nathaniel reaches for her hand with a smile. “I understand. Whatever you need, I’m here for you.” He lifts her hand to his mouth and kisses her knuckles gently. “You ready?”

“Let’s do this.”

Off they go, seat belts on, hand in hand, ready for the adventure of a lifetime.

* * *

Rebecca starts to drift off an hour or so into the flight, and she scoots closer to Nathaniel, leaning over to rest her head on his chest. He tucks her underneath his arm and kisses her forehead as her eyes fall shut. Sleeping on flights isn’t typically her style, but the chairs are way more comfortable in first class, plus the human pillow she has to sleep on isn’t too bad. A little firm, perhaps, but the steady rhythm of his heartbeat lulls her to sleep.

It’s a few hours later when she stirs, Nathaniel gently readjusting the blanket that’s fallen off of her shoulder. Rebecca’s eyelashes flutter a few times as she snuggles impossibly closer to Nathaniel.

“Hey there, beautiful.” He kisses her temple and covers her exposed shoulder with the blanket.

Rebecca groggily asks, “What time is it?”

“A little past 1:00. You’ve been asleep for a bit.”

She yawns quietly. “Did you get to sleep any?”

He shakes his head. “Not really, but I’ll be okay.” Softly, he runs his fingers through her now slightly tangled hair. “Do you maybe want to watch a movie for a bit?”

Rebecca shrugs. “Sure, that’s fine. Anything good?”

“How do you feel about _Indiana Jones_?”

She snickers a little and leans into his ear, dropping her voice down. “Only if it’s followed by _Cruel Intentions._ ”

“I think we might have to save the double feature for the bedroom. You know how I feel about that movie,” he whispers in her ear. Rebecca hums and shifts closer to him to softly kiss his lips.

“You’re no fun,” she pouts, jutting out her bottom lip, which gives Nathaniel every reason to grab it teasingly with his teeth.

“Patience is a virtue, you know. Just relax, okay?” Rebecca finds a semi-comfortable position to share the small seat back screen with him as the opening scene rises.

She’s caught up in the tense chemistry between Indy and Marion that she doesn’t notice Nathaniel’s hand slip underneath her blanket until he’s touching her over her panties. Rebecca inhales sharply and looks up at him.

“Can you be quiet,” he asks barely louder than the hum of the engine. Rebecca nods and rests her head back on his shoulder to try to focus her attention on the movie.

Turns out, she’s very easily distracted.

The thick blanket conceals his hand quite well, and the cabin lights are dimmed, most of the passengers around them happily sleeping away. Rebecca lets her legs fall open a little further and sighs quietly as Nathaniel’s fingers find her warm center. She wishes she could be vocal right now because god, his fingers are like magic, but she reaches across to grab his thigh and turns her head to bite his shirt sleeve. God damn, how did he get to be so good at this?

Rebecca squeezes her legs to gain more friction, trying desperately to grind against his fingers. Nathaniel senses what she’s craving and presses the pad of one finger to her clit while moving his fingers more quickly inside of her. Fucking hell. Her mouth drops open as she comes hard and fast and dirty against his hand. She didn’t know how much she needed that until she did, and she relaxes into his side as she recovers. He stays with her until the last pulses fade away, and he tips his head down to her ear.

“Feel better?”

“Infinitely.” They kiss softly, trying not to draw too much attention. “So, how do we not make this super obvious?”

Nathaniel’s lips turn up into a smirk, and he acts like he’s leaning over to tell her something but quickly brings his fingers into his mouth… and she’s wet again. Did he really have to do that so close to her? Rebecca opens her mouth eagerly waiting for her taste, which Nathaniel gives to her, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip as she licks the rest of her orgasm from his fingers.

“Dirty girl,” he mumbles against her ear. “Try to get some sleep, okay? We’ve got a big day planned tomorrow.”

“Oh? And what are these big plans?”

“Well, I will tell you when we get there.” He kisses her forehead, and Rebecca smiles at the memory that flashes before her eyes. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

She loves how naturally it rolls off both their tongues now, and while it took some time to adjust to saying it, they’re finding the easiness in those eight letters. Nathaniel adjusts the neck pillow he reluctantly accepted from Rebecca; ordinarily, he wouldn’t be caught dead with one of these, especially not one in the most garish shade of aqua blue, but he knows it will save his neck when he wakes up. She eventually cajoled him into attaching it onto his carry-on, despite his protests, but we make sacrifices when we’re in love, he supposes.

To help him drift off to sleep, he takes a page from Rebecca’s book and silently goes through the list of everything that made him smile today. He starts with Rebecca: her eyes, her giggle, her smile, her obnoxiously singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” out of his car window on the 105… the song is bad enough to begin with, and Rebecca’s rendition of it was a little… pitchy, but nonetheless, he smiled at her, her hair soft and windblown. His mind settles down as Rebecca’s toothy, innocent smile bids him good night until the morrow.

The ping of the captain’s announcement rings over the intercom alerting the passengers of their descent into Papeete, which is only a short flight over to Bora Bora from there after their quick layover. It’s almost 5:30 in the morning, and Nathaniel’s biological clock still works, even on vacation. Rebecca’s isn’t in tune with his, though hers seems to be working like it should as she continues to sleep against him. Gently, he nudges her awake and hushes her grumbling with long kisses.

“Are we there yet,” she childishly groans leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Not yet. Two hour layover, an hour on the plane, and then we’ll— don’t you dare go back to sleep. No, come on, up you go,” he says, easing her head back up with her reluctantly laying her head back against the seat.

“But it’s so early. Need coffee before I can be a happy person.”

“Right, coffee, see, now you’re speaking my language.” Nathaniel reaches for her hand and looks over at her. She looks back at him, smiles sleepily, and laces her fingers with his, leaning towards him for a tender kiss. After staring at her for a moment, he says, “You’re pretty.”

“So are you.” The sweet exchange fades as he eyes her with confusion, and she stammers. “Uh, well, I meant, like, handsome. It’s not like boys can’t be pretty too, but, like, for you in particular, I wouldn’t use that exact word to describe—“

He laughs. “Yeah, I know what you meant.” She blushes, kissing him once more.

The two hour layover passes quickly, as does the fifty minute plane trip into Bora Bora, and Rebecca’s excitement grows by the minute. Her foot taps restlessly against the floor as they’re beginning to start their descent onto the island, her stomach pirouettes and somersaults with anticipation, and it’s difficult to keep her hands from fidgeting in her lap. Nathaniel kisses the backs of her hands as they descend, and momentarily, she finds a sense of calm.

After arriving at the resort, Rebecca’s hair wildly displaced from the sea cruise to the resort, Nathaniel sets his bags down by the door and tells Rebecca to do the same. Cautiously, she keeps her eyes trained on him as she sets her bags outside, but before she can ask him what’s going on, she’s scooped up in his arms laughing while he carries her through the door and into the main room. When he sets her feet back on the ground, she’s anxiously tilting her head up awaiting a proper kiss, which he gives with no hesitation. His tongue slides into her mouth, and Rebecca’s leg lifts girlishly off the ground as she moans desperately for more.

“Gotta get our stuff in first,” he says between kisses. Rebecca groans and pulls away, reluctantly making her way to the door. Before she makes it through, Nathaniel takes her hand and turns her around to face him. “And then…”

“And then?” She’s begging him to finish his intriguing sentence. And then what, Nathaniel? Number one rule of life: show, don’t tell. Pushing her back against the door, it slams shut behind her, and he kisses her hungrily once again. He slips his knee in between her legs, and just before she’s about to feel that glorious pressure at her center, the bastard pulls away with a smirk. “Oh, come on!”

“The sooner you help me, the sooner we can come back to that,” Nathaniel sing-songs outside the door. That most definitely spurs Rebecca into action.

She plops her bags on the floor beside their bed, kicks off her sandals, and smiles up at him, rising up on her toes with her hands behind her back. “Okay, can we come back to _that_ now?”

Without question. He hoists her up onto his hips as she wraps her legs around his waist with a squeak, their lips meeting in the middle. Nathaniel gradually leans her back onto the king-sized bed, and she pulls him down to settle between her legs. Her sundress flips up around her hips when he sets her on the mattress, and he tenderly rubs his hands along her legs. God, he loves her legs. His hand snakes around to her ass, another place of hers he adores, before he’s scrambling to get his pants off and get inside of her.

Finally, they’re rocking together, the island’s morning breeze drifting through the open bedroom windows, and it feels like heaven. Nathaniel kisses her neck with a greedy, hot mouth, and Rebecca’s back arches off of the bed as he thrusts deeper into her. She feels so good, so warm, so perfect, and his composure slips by the second.

“Harder,” she moans in a hushed tone against his skin. Maybe he didn’t hear her; she tries again looking directly at him, her voice more commanding than desperate. “Fuck me harder.”

Yes ma’am, happy to oblige. Nathaniel unwinds her legs from his back, spreading them a little more and pushing them back towards her chest ever so slightly. My god, the salacious angle that he’s able to reach is indescribable. Yeah, he’s got the control now. Her orgasm quickly approaching, Rebecca’s cries grow breathier and more jagged.

“Come for me, Rebecca,” he pleads, one of his hands diving into her hair. It doesn’t take much longer before she’s repeating his name into his neck while her body tenses, every hidden muscle finding its way to squeeze, before she finds the breaking point and she lets go, Nathaniel following closely behind her.

As she comes down from her high, the simple declaration of his name begins to become a question asked in broken whispers. He reassures her that he’s right here and not going anywhere, unweaving his grip from her hair and opting to smooth it down with his fingers instead. Lightly kissing her cheeks every so often helps calm her, and eventually, she lifts her head to find his lips, the kiss earnest, soft, and sweet. When Nathaniel pulls back, he looks into her eyes, pausing to absorb the beauty in all she is.

“Hi,” he starts.

“Hi,” she finishes with a smile.

He’s staring at her like she holds the moon, sun, and stars in the palms of her hands. It makes her feel beautiful.

“How you feeling?”

“Incredible,” she sighs as she relaxes further into the bed. Slowly, he pulls out from her and takes off his condom, excusing himself to use the bathroom and to get them both water.

It’s a moment longer before Rebecca stretches to sit up and admire the view from their bedroom, her feet dangling from the bed. Somewhere in those first two minutes he’s gone, Rebecca’s mind takes a hard left and begins a frightful descent into anxiety.

Nathaniel comes back into the room, two complimentary bottles of water in his hands, and almost says something before he spots Rebecca and begins to panic. She’s been staring out the window in a trance for the last five minutes or so, and Nathaniel sets the bottles on the dresser before coming to sit next to her, leaving a few respectable inches of space between them. He reaches over to grasp one of her hands gently, trying not to startle her.

“Hey. What’s on your mind?”

She shakes her head, forcing a smile. “Nothing.”

It would be customary for him to get upset with her for trying to hide things, but he remains calm and doesn’t show any signs of anger. “Rebecca, I’ve known you for far too long. You can’t fool me.” She looks down in discomfort because he’s right, but he takes a moment to smile at her and pick her chin up. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I just want to know what you’re thinking about.”

“It’s just… I’ve never done anything like this before, and… I don’t know, you’re probably, like, used to whisking your girlfriends away to wherever they want on your private jet and stuff, and I feel like… what if I’m just one of them?”

Nathaniel nods gravely, guilt creeping into his bones. She is right, at least partially. “Rebecca, I won’t lie to you. You aren’t the first girl I’ve taken on a vacation.” She begins to shrink into herself, but Nathaniel holds her folded hands between both of his. “But you aren’t ‘just one of them.’ You are… so special to me, Rebecca. I wouldn’t do all this for just anyone.”

She asks quietly. “You wouldn’t?”

“You tell me.” After some thoughtful pondering, slowly, she shakes her head, and Nathaniel brings his hands up to her face, gently cupping her cheeks as he kisses her. It’s easy to assume that given his wealth and status, he would just do these things without much regard, but he’s always seen Rebecca as special and has always wanted to give her what she deserves. She deserves the fucking world, and he plans to give it to her, no compensation necessary. “Thank you for telling me. Please try not to worry. About anything, but especially that. You should know by now that the way I feel with you is nothing like I’ve ever felt with anyone before.”

“I know that, I do. You know I just get insecure sometimes.”

He presses his lips to her forehead. “I know. I just want you to be happy. That’s what’s important to me. Be free to enjoy yourself while you’re here, okay?”

She interlocks her pinky finger with his and smiles. “Okay.”

“So, what do you want to do today? It’s up to you.”

A hopeful, sexy smile emerges. “Maybe more of _that_?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve set aside _plenty_ of time for more of that. Are you hungry? We could find something to eat.”

She mumbles under her breath, “I mean, there’s something perfectly edible right here…” and Nathaniel lightly nudges her shoulder and huffs a sigh when he stands up.

“You kill me, Bunch. Come on,” he says as she places both of her hands in his, and he pulls her to standing, keeping one of his hands in hers while they venture out.

After a delicious Polynesian barbecue overlooking the ocean, Rebecca decides to sit on the loveseat outside their room with a book in hand. Nathaniel sits down across from her, and Rebecca kicks off her flip flops before swinging her legs over his lap. She’s absorbed in the pages that she doesn’t see Nathaniel scrutinizing the title of her book.

“ _Hot Days and Steamy Knights?”_

“It’s an epic tale of a forbidden romance between two children of feuding households—“

“Why don’t you just read _Romeo and Juliet?”_

 _“_ Oh, come on, Shakespeare doesn’t have anything on this. This is _prime_ literature.”

He snatches the book from her hands, finds a passage, and reads it aloud. “Oh, prime literature? We’ll see about that. ‘Her heaving bosom bursts from her corset as his trembling fingers caress her tender, virginal breasts—‘ Really, Rebecca?”

“What?! It has a captivating narrative structure!”

He rolls his eyes at her. “You do realize there’s _Harry Potter_ fan fiction written better than this, right?”

Rebecca scoffs. “Duh, of course I know that.” When she finally absorbs what he said, her eyes about leap from her head. She eyes him suspiciously. “But how do _you_ know that?” They stare at each other for a long moment, heat rising to Nathaniel’s cheeks. She gasps. “You found my media law textbook, didn’t you?”

“Wait, your what?”

She grabs the book back and tucks her legs underneath her. “La-la-la-la-la, you didn’t hear anything, forget I said anything!”

“Consider it forgotten,” he says slyly. Thank god his memory is damn near impeccable.

Even when they wake up the next morning, he teases her about the location of her law textbook, asking probing questions about where she might be hiding it. To that, she reaches behind her head and smacks him with the pillow she’s resting on, rolling to face away from him. He faces her, lightly pinching her ass, maintaining his joking tone as he assures her he’s kidding. Pressing kisses around her face while tickling her sides gets her to smile.

Today’s activities, upon her request, include chasing the knots out of her back and shoulders, most likely from sleeping on the plane, that have been growing by the hour. Nathaniel tries to push into the knots without much relief, so she decides to splurge on herself and deep tissue the hell out of her shoulders. An hour later, and she feels like a new person. It takes a decent amount of goading, but she convinces Nathaniel to go see Leona to have his life and body completely revolutionized. After his hour is up, he’s echoing many of Rebecca’s same praises sitting on the deck outside their room.

“Did she completely psychoanalyze you too? It was so weird, it’s like she knew exactly what was going on in my head because of where I hold tension. I’m not _not_ convinced she isn’t a witch. What did she tell you?”

“Doesn’t that violate confidentiality if I tell you? Also, everyone knows a good witch would never reveal her secrets and, if she did, she would trust us to keep them.”

“True, I don’t want to give you any bad mojo,” she drops her voice down conspiratorially next to his ear, “just in case she’s listening.”

“You’re ridiculous,” he laughs, pulling her in for a kiss.

“Hey, I have an idea.”

“Okay?”

Rebecca slides up to him and hooks her leg over one of his. She pushes her skirt to the side to expose more of her thigh. “You. Me. Pool. Ten minutes?”

“I think we can make it five.” She quirks her eyebrows and jumps up from her chair, racing back inside. Slipping on her teal bikini, Rebecca grabs a towel to wrap around herself and heads back outside to get in the pool. Oblivious as she hums to herself, she breezes right past Nathaniel and doesn’t register it until she hears him clear his throat behind her.

“What, I don’t get to see?”

She turns around and gestures to her body. “You get to see it in the pool, calm down,” she says, turning on her heel to step onto the deck.

“Rebecca,” he tries again, almost singing her name.

Once again, she turns around but with slightly more exasperation. Rebecca waits with her weight in one hip and her arms crossed over her chest and watches as Nathaniel comes down to meet her on the deck. He stops a few feet in front of her with a sexy grin on his face, just taking his sweet time staring at her. Of course, he’s dragging it out, but it doesn’t mean she isn’t incredibly turned on. When he lifts the hem of his t-shirt over his head, Rebecca watches his abdominal muscles flex, her interest piqued, and she turns away from him, dipping her toes inside the pool and slowly dropping her towel behind her.

She peeks from beneath her eyelashes to beckon him to follow her into the pool, and a low sound comes from Nathaniel’s throat when she sinks into the water biting her lip. He joins her in the water, immediately bringing her close to kiss her, lifting her up into his hips. She wraps her arms around his neck, and he keeps one arm snug around her back while the other wet hand finds her messy bun.

“Mmm, this feels familiar,” he hums against her lips.

“Too bad this pool doesn’t have any well-placed jets.”

“We can scout out the hot tub later.”

Rebecca smiles at him. “And what about right now?”

Nathaniel takes her earlobe between his teeth. “Oh, I think you know what’s in store for right now.”

They do scout out the hot tub later that evening, but it’s currently occupied by a few other couples. No worries, though, since they’ll have a chance to come back soon enough. Instead, they choose to shower off together and snuggle in bed watching a movie as they fall asleep.

* * *

Next morning is an early one, as today is their adventure day. They’re hiking on the next island over and having lunch across the way. Rebecca is wary about the hiking part of their trip, but Nathaniel promises to not walk too far ahead of her, and she’s absolutely holding him to that.

“And you promise, you won’t let me fall or get lost or get attacked by a poisonous snake?”

Nathaniel takes her hand in his. “I’ll hold your hand if you’d like, I’ll be right there with you the whole time, and you won’t find anything poisonous here, I promise.” He kisses the back of her hand with a reassuring smile.

The changes in elevation once they get into the cliffs are slightly frightening, and she cautiously tests rocky patches before placing her whole weight on them. She’s stepping down from a high place and thinks she’s found her footing when she starts to slip. Thankfully, Nathaniel is there to catch her hands and keep her from falling. He keeps her steady as she comes down the slope to join him, and he wraps his arm around her shoulders when she meets him at the bottom.

“Is it okay if we try something?” He’s got a look in his eyes that spells something risky is ahead. She knows he can be a bit of a daredevil with a penchant for danger, and she’s a little unsure of what he has in mind.

She smiles uneasily. “I’m a little nervous.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun, I promise.” Nathaniel leads her down to a lower area of the cliff with her cautiously trailing behind. A patch of open space looks like the perfect place to kick off his shoes and bring her close to peek over the edge of the small cliff.

“Wait, Nathaniel, I don’t think that’s such a good—“ He’s already flinging off his shirt next to his shoes and leaping off the edge of the platform into the water. Rebecca lets out a small scream and holds her breath as she waits for him to surface. Thankfully, he comes up for air, shaking his hair out and triumphantly pumps his fist.

“Are you crazy?!”

“You’re the crazy one if you don’t try this,” he yells up at her while he treads water. “It’s not scary, I swear!”

Rebecca tiptoes to the edge of the small cliff and estimates about eight feet between her current position and the surface of the water. “I guess it could be worse,” she mumbles to herself. She calls back to him, “I don’t know, I’m scared.”

“Would I ever tell you to do something I didn’t think was safe?” She shakes her head, looking down at her feet. “I won’t force you, but it’s fun. I think you should really try it.”

Rebecca remembers Dr. Akopian’s advice about enjoying every moment no matter what because it’s something to learn from. Maybe this is something to learn from. She slowly toes off her shoes, sets her thin shirt next to his, and looks back down at him. “I hate you for making me do this!”

“Never made you do anything!”

Leap of faith, Rebecca. You can do this.

Her feet leave the ground as she screams midair, and she hits the water with a soft splash, quickly kicking her feet to return to the surface. She wipes the water from her eyes and floats over to Nathaniel, who’s watching her from several feet away. Giddy and overflowing with adrenaline, Rebecca swims next to him with a smile spread across her face.

“That was kind of awesome! Can we do it again?”

“See, I didn’t make you do anything.” Rebecca splashes him and swims back towards the shallower rocky area. “Hey! Come back here!”

“Gotta catch me first,” she teases over her shoulder at him. Ha, piece of cake. Despite moving as quickly as she can, her boobs are like fucking anchors in the water, and it’s not much work for Nathaniel to catch up to her, slinging his arm around her waist while she playfully fights him off. When he gets out of the water, he holds out his hands to help her stand, and she stumbles out of the water and onto the shore where he’s waiting to kiss her, threading his fingers through her wild dark waves.

“Let’s go up a little higher this time. Is that okay?” Rebecca nods and starts back up the trek to find a new platform. There’s a new ledge just a few feet higher than the first, but once Rebecca peeks over the edge of this one, her heart begins to pound.

“I don’t know about this one.

Nathaniel looks over at the height into the water and is startled momentarily when Rebecca wraps her arms around his stomach. Oh god, she really is scared. “What if we did this one together?” She looks up at him with wide eyes. “Yeah, it could make you less scared. I’ll do this one with you, okay?” When she looks down and away from him, he takes her hands and brings them up to his chest. “Hey, do you trust me?”

Rebecca nods slowly. “I do.”

Lacing their fingers together, Nathaniel gives her hand a small squeeze before walking over to the edge. “Okay then. Let’s do this.” Rebecca takes a slow breath in and out through her nose. She looks over at Nathaniel for reassurance and smiles at him. “Ready? Three, two, one…”

They jump.

Nathaniel hits the water first, but Rebecca follows close behind, finding him waiting for her near the water’s edge when she comes up for air. The first time she jumped by herself was a bit frightening, but once she left the ledge this time, she felt so peaceful knowing that she had someone by her side to jump with. Someone who wouldn’t let her fall or get lost or get attacked by poisonous snakes. Someone who makes her feel like she could literally touch a star.

They say you shouldn’t jump off of a cliff just because your friends do, but they never said anything about how much fun it can be with your boyfriend.

Nathaniel’s standing where the water is a bit shallower waiting for Rebecca, and when she swims over to him with stars in her eyes and an ocean-wide smile on her face, his heart swells three sizes. God, he’s so damn proud of her. He can’t help that as soon as she comes over, he pulls her in to kiss her, and she throws her arms around him.

“God, you’re amazing,” he says between kisses against her neck.

“What? What are you talking about?”

Nathaniel pulls back and gently holds her face in his hands. “For a second, I didn’t think you would actually do it, but you did. I’m so proud of you, sunshine.”

She blushes and lifts her head to kiss him again. “Thank you for this. This was incredible. What do you say we celebrate with some food? Maybe a drink or two?”

Celebrate they do, toasting to new adventures as they eat with a view of the cliffs they just conquered. They spend time together later in the day relaxing in their pool and watching the sunset from their deck, glasses of wine in hand. She looks over at him, her eyes soft.

“Nathaniel, why did you do all this for me?”

He takes a breath and sets his wine glass on the side of the pool. “Because I love you, Rebecca. You’ve been so stressed lately, and I know how much you’ve been needing a vacation, so I figured why not.” He pauses for a moment to look at her, looking down and circling her feet in the water.

“You know, you don’t have to spend tons of money on me to show me that you love me.”

Suddenly, he becomes more serious and brings his voice down just to her. “I don’t have to, but I want to. There’s no one else I’d rather spend it on.” Nathaniel gently takes her hands. “Rebecca, you deserve the world. You know that, right?”

“Do I,” she whispers back in question.

“Of course you do.” He squeezes her hands, suddenly finding himself overwhelmed with emotion. “It’s a shame that no one has been able to show that to you before, but I want to be the one to do that for you if you’ll let me. Will you let me?”

Rebecca looks up at him with a smile and a nod before kissing him softly. After a little while, she moves her hand into his hair, opening her mouth to kiss him deeper. “Nathaniel,” she moans against his lips, sliding onto his lap. “Can we…”

“Here?”

She shakes her head. “Shower?”

“Come on, then,” he says, nudging her off his lap. She scrambles off of him to get out of the pool. By the time Nathaniel gets out of the pool, she’s jumping on him, her legs around his waist as he carries her back inside.

Nathaniel blindly reaches over to turn on the water while Rebecca kisses him senseless and reaches behind her to untie her swimsuit top. She tugs at his pants, eager to get him naked and inside of her, and he’s thankfully quick to heed her request, taking off his shorts before hooking his fingers in the waistband of hers. The water is barely above lukewarm before Rebecca’s dragging him into the shower and pressing his body to hers against the tile wall.

He guides her underneath the spray after kissing her for a few more moments, and Rebecca tilts her head back to wet her hair. His fingers tweak her nipples and she squeaks as she lifts her head.

“God, you’re incredible.” She blinks the water out of her eyes and kisses him again, curling her fingers in his short hair. It’s fairly obvious what she wants, but Nathaniel wants to make her work a little harder for it.

He switches positions with her to wash his own hair, but Rebecca can’t stop herself from ever so slightly running her fingers up his length, her nails dragging teasingly behind.

“Do you enjoy teasing me, woman?”

“Always,” she smirks, sidestepping him to shampoo her hair.

After rinsing out her hair, Nathaniel kisses her, and god, it’s everything she wants and more right now. Rebecca rises up on her toes when his hand snakes down between their bodies and finds her wet center waiting for him to fill her up. He slips two fingers inside of her and savors the long moan she lets out. Yeah, the conditioner can wait.

“Fuck, Nathaniel, please,” Rebecca begs quietly.

“Please, what?”

“Please fuck me. Please?” Nathaniel lets a groan escape as he turns her back towards the wall and kisses down her neck before urging her to jump up. It’s only a few more moments before he’s inside of her and covering her mouth with his.

Rebecca grips him tightly as their bodies slide together in the steamy shower. The water pelts against the floor but does little to mask the sounds of their sex. There’s no reason to hide since they’re alone together, right? He loves to hear her moan, sweet and uninhibited, just like this.

“Oh my god, Rebecca,” he whispers into her neck. He’s getting close. “How are you so good at this?”

She shrugs and pulls on his hair to bring his mouth back onto hers. She could kiss him all day and never stop. With a few more keenly placed thrusts and brushes across her nipples, she’s coming hard and fast against him. Thank god she isn’t standing and he’s strong enough to keep her up because if not, they’d both be on the floor.

Despite the tension building inside of him, he isn’t quite ready to be done yet, so he holds off his own orgasm until she’s satisfied. The look in her eyes says she is absolutely not sated, not in the slightest. Gently, he lets her down to finish washing her hair, and he stands off to the side casually observing her. She opens her eyes after running conditioner through her hair and laughs under her breath.

“Are you just gonna stand there staring?”

Nathaniel shrugs. “Maybe. I like looking at you.”

Rebecca’s eyebrows lift as she tries to interpret that sentence. She nods, settling on her resolution. “Mildly creepy but also very flattering.”

Rebecca steps towards him giving him a kiss, and his hands naturally find the twin curves of her back. Before she gets too distracted, she pulls back to wet her hair once more, Nathaniel’s soft eyes still on her.

“So now does this mean I get to see how you get your effortlessly bouncy hair?”

He switches positions with her. “I suppose it’s only fair. You wanna help me with that?”

Rebecca narrows her eyes with her hands on her hips. “Was that supposed to be a short joke?”

“It wasn’t, but now that you mention it, you wouldn’t be too much help—“ Rebecca’s jaw drops as her hand smacks his arm, and he recoils in shock. “Ow! Okay, no more short jokes.” Rebecca perks up, making herself seem taller, and Nathaniel laughs, playfully rolling his eyes at her.

He finishes running his fingers through his hair for a final time, and Rebecca pecks his lips before she steps out of the shower to dry off. She leaves the bathroom after wrapping herself in the white fluffy bath towel and makes her way back into the bedroom. Nathaniel takes another minute to let the steam soak into his pores and remind himself of the luxury of this vacation.

When he gets out of the shower, he takes a quick look in the mirror and finds Rebecca’s kiss pressed into the foggy mirror. He smiles to himself and heads back into the bedroom to join her, but he stops short of the entryway when he finds her, still wrapped in her towel, resting her arms on the balcony staring wistfully into the night. Rebecca’s moonlit silhouette is simply enchanting. She looks like a vision bathed in stardust. It’s then he realizes he’s the luckiest man in the world.

Softly, Nathaniel steps out onto the deck next to her so she can recognize his presence before he wraps her into a hug from behind, pressing his nose delicately into the waves of her wet hair. Rebecca sighs and leans back into him, content. After a beat of silence, he says,

“Do you even know how beautiful you are?”

He says it so openly and reverently that it takes Rebecca a minute to absorb his words. Did he really just say that? Rebecca’s arms cover his around her waist, and she shifts back further into his arms. “I don’t believe that, but I’ll be happy to let you tell me some more.”

He turns her around to face him, his eyes gleaming with desire as he lowers his voice. “I think I would rather just show you.”

Rebecca looks up to meet his eyes, their hands intertwined and resting at their sides, and it’s a rare moment to see him so vulnerable. He’s not trying to put on a show or disguise anything he’s feeling. His guard is down, and Rebecca can see Nathaniel for who he really is, not who he very often pretends to be. It’s in this moment that she remembers why she fell in love with him.

He leads her back inside their bedroom through the blousy white curtains and pauses before they reach the bed to unlink one hand from hers and release the corner of her towel, letting it fall behind her in a heap. She repeats the action with the one wrapped around his waist. For a moment, the couple stands still and silent, staring at one another. The passion between them sparks from their skin, and it’s only another moment before they crash into each other, hands, lips, teeth, and tongues aflame with need to be close as possible.

Rebecca slides back onto the bed and pulls Nathaniel along with her. She lets her leg sit high on his hip as he settles on top of her and winds his fingers through her hair. Moaning his name against his lips, Nathaniel reaches one hand down to feel her center dripping and ready. He barely remembers to grab a condom, his baser urges tempting him to slide inside of her without hesitation. Better safe than sorry, though. He tries to roll on the condom while kissing her, but he’s too focused on her lips to take care of protecting himself, so Rebecca pulls away to let him finish the job so they can move on to other more satisfying activities.

Nathaniel pushes gently inside of her with a low groan and a heated curse. How is it possible for one woman to be this wonderful? Rebecca buries her face into his neck and clings to him as she takes him in. Her breathing evens out when she adjusts to him inside of her, and she lifts her head to kiss him. She’s gentle and sweet in her kiss, even as he starts to move.

He barely pulls away from her lips before he whispers, “I love you.”

Rebecca remembers when he said he loved her after she came back from jail. When her “welcome back” party ended, Nathaniel came back over to apologize for being so callous earlier, and Rebecca cut him short of an explanation with a shake of her head and a greedy kiss. That night, he let it slip as he came, his mouth pressed against her ear. He apologized to her in full as they lay in the afterglow together, his fingers combing through her hair, her eyes tired and absent of their characteristic sparkle he’s come to know and love. Nevertheless, he loved her.

Now, the glimmer is back. She’s staring up at him with turquoise hope overflowing, beautiful and pure. “I love you too.”

It’s not often they do this, make love, but it’s special when they do. Having sex, they’re really good at, but making love takes skill to learn, patience to listen, and time to discover what it all really means. The moonlight thinly blankets their figures in the darkened room, their hands moving slowly against each other’s bodies. Nathaniel follows where she leads, trying to read her body and study her face to see what she wants. Rebecca is typically more vocal than she is now, but she’s trying to preserve the intimacy of the moment. This time is… different. But good different. His tender caress sets her skin ablaze, and it’s nearly impossible to think about anything other than how wonderful this feels. He whispers to her, mostly murmurings about how beautiful she is, taking the time to tend to each part that he acknowledges with care.

As she comes again, Nathaniel strokes her wet hair back from her face and presses loving kisses into her skin. He repeats her name in sparse whispers as he finally lets himself come. Rebecca stares up at him, observing the way his face ever so minutely changes with his orgasm and tries to memorize each micro-expression that crosses his face. When he opens his eyes, relief and love are radiating from his blue eyes, and he kisses her gently, whispering once again how much he loves her. A warmth overtakes her entire being, and Rebecca’s heart nearly skips a beat. Wow, he really does love her.

They’re lying together facing one another while the small waves outside softly crash in the background. Nathaniel’s phone buzzes from the nightstand, and while it’s tempting to ignore the notification and get to it in the morning, the buzzing continues, so he knows someone is calling him. He reaches behind him to grab his phone and slide his finger across the screen just before he misses the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Nathaniel, it’s Paula. Do you think I could talk to Rebecca for a second?”

Nathaniel looks confused for a moment but heeds her request and passes off his phone to Rebecca. She kisses him before she gets up from the bed with a blanket wrapped around herself. Nathaniel straightens up the bed and waits for Rebecca to return. She’s laughing, and he knows it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. Floating back into the room, Rebecca hands him back his phone.

“Bye, Paula! Oh, she wants to talk to you too.” Nathaniel nods and pulls on his boxers before he moves out onto the balcony.

“Is everything okay at the office?”

“Of course. Everything’s fine, but that’s not what I was calling about.” Paula takes a long sigh, and Nathaniel feels cold fear prickling at the back of his neck. “I know you don’t have kids, but I think you know what it’s like to love someone, don’t you?”

“Yes, though I’m a little scared of where this conversation is going.”

Paula blows a raspberry and laughs. “Come on, I’m not anything to be scared of.” If only she could see the look of utter disbelief from the other line. “Well, I guess I can be a _little_ intimidating, but that’s not the point. The point is, I know you and Rebecca have been seeing each other for a while, and I just want to make sure that your intentions are… better than they once were, we’ll say.”

“Paula—“

“Hang on, buster, momma’s not done talking yet.” Nathaniel closes his mouth comically fast at her tone. “Look, Rebecca has been through a lot in the last year, and you know I’ll always be worried for her. She’s my best friend, and I love her like my own kids.”

Paula laughs and begins to pace around her kitchen. “You know, when she told me you two got back together, I was wary, to say the least, and she promised me that if anything bad were to happen, I would be the first to know. So I want to be absolutely certain that my Cookie comes back to me in one physical and emotional piece. Or _you_ might not be coming back in one piece.” Nathaniel starts to say something, but Paula cuts him off with a warning tut. He stays silent. “You may talk now.”

“Paula, there’s really nothing to worry about—“

“Funny how men can make that statement sound so charming—“

He looks confused and hurt. “Do you not believe me?”

“Oh, I can believe you, sure, but I'm gonna need you to prove that to me.”

Nathaniel stammers for his words. “What else can I say to you to prove to you that I love Rebecca?” Paula goes silent on the other end of the line. This may be the first time she’s hearing him actually say he loves her. He senses her shock and continues, “I do, I love her. We’ve been here three days, and I’ve only thought about work eight times. That’s unprecedented for me. She just makes you forget about all the bad stuff, you know?”

Paula starts to jump in, and Nathaniel interrupts. “Oh, ummm, respectfully, I think it’s my turn to talk. I really need to say this.” She lets him have the line. “What she and I have certainly isn’t perfect. We didn’t quite start on the right foot, but we can’t change the past. I’m just trying to do the past better this time. I forget the bad stuff when I’m with her, but we’re both trying to fix all those bad things that happened between us and be better together.”

Rebecca starts to go out to check on Nathaniel when she hears her name and stops in her tracks. “I’m really trying to do right by her. Rebecca makes me so happy, and I couldn’t imagine where I would be without her. I would give up everything I have to be with her, and I don’t want to lose her because I’m an ass who hasn’t learned my lesson. I don’t want to even imagine the thought of breaking her heart again. Please, Paula, just give me the chance to prove it to you.”

A tear forms in the corner of Nathaniel’s eye, and he blinks it away as he waits for Paula to respond. He’s on edge waiting for her to acknowledge his well-meaning, and he hopes she’ll see that maybe he’s not such a selfish dick after all. She exhales deeply, clearly shocked by his emotional speech.

“Wow. You really have changed.” Nathaniel nods in acceptance of her compliment. Thank god he has. “She’s easy to love, isn’t she?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m sure you know this, she just needs someone to take care of her.”

“I think she can take care of herself just fine.” He takes a thoughtful pause. “But I would never leave her. If anything, I’m scared she might leave _me_. Don’t tell her I said that, though, she’ll never let me live it down.”

Paula laughs and vows to keep his secret, and Rebecca, who tiptoed to the window, tries to hide her giggle from inside the bungalow. Yeah, she certainly won’t let him live that down.

“Well, it was good talking to you, Nathaniel. You two have fun.”

“We will,” he says with a smile.

He’s about to end the call when Paula shouts back. “And be safe! Use protection, unless you’re planning on giving me godchildren, in which case their names should be—“ Nathaniel hangs up the phone with a laugh and heads back inside only to find Rebecca in one of his t-shirts waiting for him by the window.

“Oh, hi.”

“Hi,” she says with a gentle smile. Nathaniel kisses her head as he goes back towards their bed.

“You’re still up, is everything okay?”

She follows behind him with her hand in his. “Just waiting for you. What did Paula want to talk to you about?”

“Oh, just checking in, seeing how things were going here.” She slides back underneath the covers facing him and props her head on her hand. She gives him a look unconvinced that he’s telling the truth, and ever since they started this thing about not keeping secrets from each other, Nathaniel knows not to lie to her. “How much of that did you hear?”

“Enough to know that you’re scared of me leaving you, which is both sad and sexy and also adorable at the same time. It’s very confusing.” He looks down trying to hide his discomfort with knowing he isn’t always as strong and secure as he seems. Rebecca reaches out to touch his face gently. “Hey, it’s okay. Look, I’m not gonna leave you. I mean, I kind of just got you for real, so why would I let you go so easily? You’re stuck with me at least for the next six days.”

“God, six days sounds like absolute torture,” he says jokingly before pressing his lips to hers and wrapping his arms around her as she drifts off to sleep.

* * *

Two of those six days are spent huddled indoors when a heavy rainstorm sweeps over the island. Thankfully, Rebecca and Nathaniel have lots of ways to keep themselves occupied. When Rebecca finishes her book, Nathaniel chooses one for her, still as trashy as her pick but with much better writing. Nathaniel works some while she reads, but she makes it impossible to focus when she’s curled in his lap like a kitten and pouts when he stops stroking her hair. Even as the rain and wind pound noisily outside, inside their room, they’re engaged in a comfortable domestic stillness. Of course, when Rebecca gets to a racy scene in her book, she asks him to take a break, eyes yearning and hungry. They’re on vacation, so he’s not particularly concerned with how much he’s actually getting done.

On the third day of being stuck indoors with the rain, Nathaniel notices she seems more withdrawn than she has the last few days. He doesn’t want to push too much, but he asks her what she’s feeling and cautiously waits for her response, hoping he didn’t overstep. She shrugs and ducks her head into the curve of his arm. It seems like she doesn’t want to talk about it, so he lightly kisses her hair and reassures her that if she wants to talk about it, he’ll listen. Rebecca knows he will, and even if he can’t offer the proper advice, he’ll always listen to what’s bothering her.

“I’m sorry we’re not doing anything today,” she says suddenly and quietly against his chest.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault about the rain. And besides, I just love spending time with you. It doesn’t matter if we do anything or not.”

She sighs and hugs him tighter around his middle. “But I just feel bad because I’m like this today and we’re supposed to be on vacation, and we’re supposed to be happy and stuff, and—”

“Rebecca,” he says quietly but firmly, grasping her attention. “It’s okay. You’re not having the best day. So what? You don’t have to pretend to be happy just because we’re on vacation. I told you the other day, and I still mean it, that you enjoying yourself is the most important thing to me. It doesn’t make me mad or upset that we aren’t doing anything today because you don’t feel up to it.”

“Are you sure?” Her voice trembles ever so slightly, and Nathaniel squeezes her into a hug for reassurance.

“Absolutely. I’m here for you always, you know that. It’s just a bad day, not a bad life, right?” Rebecca closes her eyes and nods against his chest, exhaling deeply.

They order in, Rebecca finally working up the appetite to split a hamburger with him. She rolls her eyes at his abomination of a hamburger, his piece of patty wrapped in the leaf of lettuce she picked off of her side, while she munches on her condiment-laden side of the burger and fries mumbling something about him being fucking weird. He promptly flings a French fry at her, and her smile returns little by little, finally garnering a giggle out of her when he licks a droplet of ketchup from the corner of her mouth.

Just a bad day, not a bad life. Sound advice, Nathaniel.

* * *

When Rebecca wakes the next morning with the sun shining through their window, she lifts her head to find Nathaniel staring down at her lightly combing his fingers through her hair.

“Were you watching me sleep?”

“Maybe?”

She sleepily smacks his chest. “Weirdo.” His laugh rumbles in his chest, and Rebecca snuggles in closer to him, exhaling audibly and draping her arm over his stomach. “Hey, I have an idea.”

“Oh, you and your ideas again? This could either be really good or really, _really_ bad.”

Rebecca lifts her head looking gobsmacked and offended as ever. “Ye of little faith! I haven’t even told you what my idea is yet.” He motions for her to continue, and her smile returns as she clears her throat. “As you very well know, I procured some items at the airport that I have yet to reveal to you.”

“You didn’t have to get me any—”

Rebecca places her finger over his lips and shushes him. She brings her voice down to a sultry volume and runs her hands up and down his chest. “They’re not as much for you as they are for _us_.”

“Not sure where you’re going with this one,” he says, mulling over the possibilities in mind.

“Just trust me.” She tosses off the covers and finds her suitcase with the standard issue airport gift shop bag she kept tucked away for this occasion. “Close your eyes,” she says, her voice husky. Cautiously, Nathaniel does as she says and hears something open, a plastic package of some sort. He can almost see Rebecca’s sexy closed-lipped smile behind his eyes.

Something brushes his skin, cool and familiar. She brings the object up to his neck, his Adam’s apple bulging with his hard swallow, and she taps his lips for him to open his mouth. _Oh._ He would recognize that strawberry flavor anywhere. Rebecca places the opposite end in her own mouth, nibbles her way down the rope to meet Nathaniel’s lips, and kisses him possessively. He makes a low sound in his throat, and his hands find her body to urge her to straddle his lap. Fuck, she’s already naked. She moans with a sensual grind of her hips downward into his, ever the woman who knows exactly what she wants.

“What do you say we make good use out of all that candy,” she asks against his lips.

“Gladly,” he replies, diving in for another kiss. His hands slide down to her ass, and he groans into her mouth. Rebecca makes a small, high-pitched sound when he thrusts his hips upward and squeezes her ass. “So eager already, are we?”

A sucker for recreating moments, Nathaniel brings his lips to her neck, traveling insistently to her ear. “Do you want me to fuck you? Wrap my fingers around your neck?” He bites her earlobe with his next question, his voice deep. _“Own you?”_

Rebecca shivers with delight and curls her fingers in his hair. She can see exactly what’s happening here, and she loves it. “Yes,” she says breathily.

Nathaniel flips her on her back, savoring the way she gasps and arches off the mattress even with her wrists pinned on either side of her head. He raises his eyebrows and stares down at her, and it’s abundantly clear who’s in control here. “Yes, what?”

The “t” slices the air with the sharpest blade, the sound traveling straight to her core, and Rebecca can’t help but writhe in his grip once again. “Yes, sir.”

Nathaniel kisses her, all open-mouthed heat filled with greed. Rebecca, always true in her fashion, reaches for Nathaniel’s hair, but his hands are like iron around her wrists. He clicks his tongue at her. “Not so fast. I wanna control you.” He softens his tone. “Is that okay?” She nods, but he wants her verbal recognition. “Are you sure?”

“Never been more sure of anything,” she says with a growing grin. Her eyes flicker in a sexy and mischievous way, and she blinks with wide eyes. “Don’t you wanna _own me_ , Nathaniel?”

He shifts his grip to take both of her wrists in one hand above her head while the other comes down to her neck and stroking the long pale column there. “Mmm, I already do, but I think you need a little reminder of who controls you and your pleasure, don’t you think?” Rebecca nods again and tilts her chin up, eager for a kiss.

Nathaniel’s fingers quickly transition from her neck to her hip and down to her center. She’s naked and _so fucking wet_ , and it would be so easy to roll on a condom and have his way with her, but that’s much too easy. Two slick fingers move in and out of her, and Nathaniel takes pity on her desperate pouting face and kisses her.

There’s knocking outside their door, and what sounds like an older woman announces she’s from housekeeping. Neither of them answer, too consumed by their own activities, so they assume that no answer means they’ll come back later. But it doesn’t. The front door opens, and a voice definitely not belonging to the first one rings out through their room.

“Bonjour, bonjour! Je suis _Angelique_ , and I am here to make all your wildest dreams come tr— ooh! Ooh-la-la!”

When their unexpected visitor barges into the bedroom, kitten heels clicking against the floor, Rebecca and Nathaniel break apart quickly, Rebecca hastily covering her naked chest with the sheet, her eyes blown wide. Both she and Nathaniel feel embarrassed for a moment until they simultaneously realize who’s in their room.

“Karen?!”

“No, no, je suis _Angelique,”_ she repeats with a squeak and a flick of her foot.

He groans. “What are you even doing here?”

She drops her accent momentarily. “I used my commission to give myself a little vacation. My toy business is _booming_ … you could almost say it’s _exploding.”_ She gives a little purr, and the pair in bed cringe, giving each other a disgusted look.

Slipping back into character, Angelique says, “Speaking of which, I have some new pieces in my collection I think the two of you would _really_ enjoy. How about some nice steel handcuffs? I think she’s a spitfire in bed, isn’t she? Or maybe _he’s_ the real tiger who needs some taming,” she giggles as she gives a growl and shows off the cuffs. Rebecca hides her face under the sheet while Nathaniel places his head in his palm. As if this couldn’t get any more awkward.

The saving grace of the real housekeeping staff comes in with a stomp to chase Angelique out. “You! What have we said about disturbing our guests? Get out before I call security!”

“Oh no! Please, I’ll be a good girl, I’ll go! _Au revoir!_ Ta-ta!”

Before Karen can roll her suitcase too far, Nathaniel stops her. “Oh, um, could you just leave those right there,” he asks gesturing to the bedside table. The incredulous look Rebecca gives him is almost comical, her eyes nearly bursting from their sockets as she smacks his chest.

Angelique struts over to the table. “For you, _monsieur_ , anything.” She tries to make herself appear enticing by dropping the cuffs just shy of the table and apologizing before she bends over to pick them up. She doesn’t get far when Nathaniel cuts in.

“Yeah, thanks, now get the fuck out.”

Angelique does a little shimmy as she grabs her suitcase, winks at Rebecca, and scurries away through the door held open by the housekeeper. The older woman apologizes and says she’ll be back later, placing the “Do Not Disturb” sign on their door handle.

Finally, there’s silence, and Rebecca drops her hands to her sides, the sheet coming down with her, and she falls on her back on the bed with a groan.

“God, we can’t even have morning sex properly on our own fucking vacation?!”

“Well, we’re alone now, and she was kind enough to put the sign on the door, so that’s good. And we got a free sex toy for our trouble.”

Rebecca whips her head around to him. “Dude, we are _not_ using those things. You have no idea where the hell those have been.”

“You’re right, I don’t. And frankly, I don’t want to.” Nathaniel reaches across to the drawer on his side of the bed, and Rebecca looks over at him curiously. “But I think you’ve known me long enough. I am nothing without a plan for every occasion.”

He dangles the set of handcuffs from her apartment in front of her (A new set, not the ones she had when she and Josh were dating/engaged. Nathaniel “lost” those). Rebecca hums, her eyes growing hooded and sensual.

“I think you know where these are going, don’t you?” Rebecca’s lips turn up into a smile, and she nods slowly.

“To think I couldn’t love you more,” she mumbles, bringing her lips up to kiss him. He settles back on top of her, and they’re quickly in the mood again.

Blissed out from her second orgasm, Rebecca smiles up at Nathaniel, her hands finally buried inside his hair. They kiss lazily as he rides out his own orgasm, and he runs his hands down her body gently, taking tender care of her now.

“We should probably let the housekeepers do their job,” she whispers.

“Why? It’s not like the sheets will stay clean for long anyway.” He laughs and waggles his eyebrows at her, and Rebecca pulls away from his kiss, reaching behind her to grab a pillow to smack him over the head. “Hey, take it easy! It was a joke!”

“I know, but still, that’s gross,” she says turning on her side after he pulls out and lies next to her.

“You up for a swim? We can take a shower later and go out for dinner and drinks if you want?”

“That sounds perfect,” she smiles, kissing his lips softly and pulling the covers off to grab her swimsuit from the bathroom. She comes back in the bedroom, and Nathaniel meets her halfway with a kiss.

“I’ll meet you out there,” he says, giving her ass a light tap on his way into the bathroom. Rebecca takes in the sunshine on their deck and slips her large round sunglasses over her eyes. She stares out at the view before her and wonders how she got so lucky. To be here, to be with him, all of it. Nathaniel finds her on her stomach on one of the long deck chairs when he comes out, his shorts hanging low and hair still a mess from their earlier activities. “What are you waiting for?”

“You, silly. Plus, I really could use a favor.” Sounds innocent enough, but Nathaniel knows her favor requests aren’t always of a platonic nature.

“What sort of favor are we talking?”

“Could you make sure I didn’t miss any spots on my back? Can’t afford a sunburn, you know.”

“Right, of course.” Nathaniel swallows hard, and Rebecca sits up with a smile. He opens the bottle of sunscreen next to her, and she pulls her hair to one side to make sure her entire back is exposed. Even though he’s sitting behind her, he knows exactly what expression she’s wearing. He starts at her shoulders, and when the cool lotion hits her skin, Rebecca gasps but then moans when he rubs it into her skin. “Fucking tease.” Oh, he didn’t mean to say that out loud.

Rebecca turns around and winks at him. “Thank you,” she whispers seductively as she stands up to get in the pool.

They relax in the water together talking about mostly nothing, but it’s wonderful. She’s so calm, he’s so open, and everything is right in their private little world. A shower later helps them clean off and reset for a night out, a luxury both of them can rarely afford, what with Nathaniel basically running a law firm like the world’s greatest one-man show (slash one-woman show because Paula saves the day on many an occasion) and Rebecca as a mostly unprofitable small business owner. Thankfully, they can enjoy each other’s company and not worry about their responsibilities for a little while longer.

After a delicious and filling dinner, they’re off to the middle of town to explore the nightlife and let loose for a bit. The island tinged rhythms pound the pavement on the streets inviting friends from near and far to join the party. Rebecca pulls Nathaniel along inside a straw-roof hut, not so subtly begging him to drink out of a coconut with her. He obliges with much less resistance than she assumed he would put up and secretly imagines he’s been watching rom-coms to plan this entire trip. In the movies, drinking out of coconuts is exactly what happens on an island night out, and something tells her he’s always wanted to do this.

The music inside this hut is very on-brand, alive with tropical guitars and bright melodies, but when the clock strikes 10, the real party begins. The lights go dim, the torches turn on, and the dance floor heats up as the evening’s DJ introduces himself and kicks the rhythm into high gear.

“Wow, for a romantic island getaway, people really like to party here,” Nathaniel muses, astounded at the amount of people flocking to the dance floor ready to party and dance all night. Rebecca looks up at him with a playful look in her eyes that they both know is impossible to resist. “What’s that look for?”

Rebecca eyes him up and down. “Finish that drink, and come dance with me.”

“You know dancing’s not really my—”

Rebecca lifts her index finger to his lips, immediately quieting his protest. “We both know that’s a lie. Now, come on, I didn’t wear this dress for nothing.”

Nathaniel’s empty hand wraps around to the keyhole back of her dress, his fingers sliding underneath the red fabric, and he finishes the rest of his drink in one sip, swallowing it hard and kissing her possessively, his mouth fresh with rum. Rebecca leads him out to the dance floor, both of his hands in hers, and he gives her a twirl underneath his arm, her short skater skirt fanning out and rippling underneath her. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him again as the song changes to a fun and sassy cha-cha. The crowd shouts and partners up, and Rebecca and Nathaniel follow suit.

“Do you even know how to cha cha,” she asks with a smile.

“I may know a few moves.”

The song is familiar, and when the lyrics come in, the crowd is clapping along and stepping in time to the beat. Rebecca’s never had any formal ballroom experience, but she at least knows the cha cha rhythm thanks to her stint of listening to the _Hairspray_ cast album in college. Easy. _Front step, cha-cha-cha, back step, cha-cha-cha. Side step, front step, back, and turn._

Of course with a partner, she reminds herself almost too late to start backwards to keep their toes from colliding. It starts tentatively, their bodies absorbing the rhythm and letting it sink into their feet, but soon, they’re gaining confidence and flirting with each other. Nathaniel rock steps forward and the twirls her underneath his arm, which elicits the cutest giggle from Rebecca. She tosses her head back and holds both of his hands as they continue to step back and forth.

“Just commence your feet to skate. Pick up your arms and make it shake,” the singer instructs in a smooth Latino voice.

She starts to feel playful and swishes her skirt as she dances. When she skates across the floor to switch sides, Nathaniel runs his fingers down the length of her arm, sending arousing chills down her body. He keeps one hand around her waist to pull her in closer, and Rebecca’s hands fist in his thin shirt. Supporting her lower back, Nathaniel daringly decides to dip her backwards, and Rebecca squeaks in response, the corners of her eyes wrinkling as she laughs when she comes up to stand.

_“I said ‘I like it like that.'”_

They’re moving together face to face until, all of a sudden, the beat drops and the crowd goes wild. Cardi B never fails to make a nightlife appearance these days. Nathaniel, obviously less than impressed with the song choice, tries not to show too much contempt for the music, but Rebecca, on the other hand, barely pays mind to it, clearly lost in the rhythm.

She commands his attention with but a mere drag of her crimson nails along his jawline and waits for a moment before bringing her hand up to her high ponytail and loosening the elastic from her hair, fluffing the uneven waves out and letting it flow wildly in the night air. Rebecca dons the most seductive and self-assured smile knowing full well she has Nathaniel in the palm of her hand. He adds that to the ever-growing list of frustratingly hot things she’s done.

Rebecca turns herself around to face away from him, pressing her body back into his, and naturally, his hands find the twin curves of her hips and keep hold of her.

The song slows and changes to something a little sexier in tone. Of course, Rebecca seizes this chance to make sure her boyfriend gets the hint loud and clear that she’s in the mood for some dirty fun tonight.

_“When all is said and done, you’ll believe God is a woman.”_

She sinks her own hands into her hair as she grinds against him, and Nathaniel is more than convinced she’s trying to publicly kill him. Thank god these lights are dim enough to hide his painfully obvious reaction to her dancing. He takes one of his hands from her hips and swipes her hair to one side of her neck, leaving the other exposed to the hot pursuit of his mouth against her skin.

“Quit teasing me,” he says in between kisses.

“What, you don’t like my dancing? Something tells me you’re really enjoying it,” she simpers, rolling her hips backwards into his erection.

“I’d enjoy it a whole lot more if there was something I could actually do about it,” he grumbles against her ear.

“Now, what have we said about _patience_ , Nathaniel?”

He kisses the most sensitive part of her neck just behind her ear. “To hell with it?”

Rebecca barely masks her shiver. She turns around and faces him with her hands looped around his neck. “Nice try. Now, I am going to buy myself another one of those heavenly coconut cocktails, and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it. You’re welcome to enjoy one with me and dance with me. And only when I’m fully satisfied with my evening experience, then you can take me home and have your way with me. Got it?”

He gulps, ceding the upper hand over to Rebecca. Usually so unwilling to let go of the reins, she’s the only person in his life to whom he’ll ever gladly give up control. Clearly, she’s all for taking it tonight, so he’s more than happy to oblige. Nathaniel nods, too transfixed at the sight of her power-hungry stare to form a coherent response.

“I knew there was a reason I keep you around,” she says with a kiss, confidently strutting towards the bar to get another drink, Nathaniel behind her.

She takes her sweet time sipping on her drink, leaning back on the bar content to observe the scene for a moment. The rum in this one is stronger than the first time around, and she doesn’t just notice it because she’s a lightweight. Rebecca smiles up at Nathaniel, who’s also lost in his own world until he feels Rebecca’s free hand interlock with his.

“What is it,” he asks looking at her quizzically.

“Nothing. Just happy you’re here.” She pecks his cheek and tugs on his hand. “Come dance with me.”

They dance for a while longer, Nathaniel even finding himself singing along with Rebecca, though her singing borders on nonsensical yelling. She bombards her phone with ridiculous selfies to send to her girl squad (Girl mob? Gurl group? Nathaniel’s still confused on the terminology.) Rebecca smushes her nose into his cheek and gives him an exaggerated kiss as she snaps a picture. Nathaniel forces himself to look amused at her variety of silly faces, ruffling her hair as she stares at him in shock. He gets a picture of that one with his smug expression in it; it’s too good to pass up.

“Okay, can we at least get one nice picture?” Her mouth hangs slack at his request. He never asks for pictures of anything, and she can’t find proper words to articulate her surprise. “And by one, I mean _one_ , Rebecca. Please don’t take a thousand.”

“Fine, just _one singular_ picture. Suit yourself.”

She cozies up to Nathaniel’s side and awkwardly tries to angle them both in the frame before he delicately takes her phone from her hands and finds an angle that suits them both. He’s behind her with his arm casually across her upper chest, and she’s hanging onto it with one of her hands, smiling innocently up at the camera. Nathaniel plants a kiss on the side of her head that makes her giggle, and unbeknownst to her, he holds his finger on the shutter and captures a burst of the moment. She’ll be pleasantly surprised by it later. He turns her around and kisses her sweetly, his fingers running down her arms to take her hands in his.

“Hey, you wanna get outta here,” she asks.

“That depends, are you _fully satisfied_ with your evening experience?”

Rebecca hums thoughtfully and tilts her head up towards his ear. “I wouldn’t say fully satisfied just yet. I think my satisfaction can be improved, maybe with a dip in the hot tub?”

“Whatever you want, I’m always eager to please.”

“I know you are.”

Rebecca walks with him hand in hand out of the bar, excitement and arousal pooling in her stomach. When they return to their room and change into appropriate swimwear, they’re silent, letting the heat of the moment build until it reaches it fateful peak. She conceals her swimsuit with her dress from this evening, and Nathaniel keeps on his shirt. While they might not be talking, their eyes are certainly having a heated conversation. Rebecca’s pupils dilate further by the second as she thinks about her plans for this evening. Nathaniel knows she wants to be in charge tonight, and he’s more than willing to let her do what she wants, especially with that sexy, powerful look in her eyes.

They’re through the pool gates, and the hot tub is surprisingly deserted for the evening. Given the unseemly hour though, it’s no wonder that there’s no one in sight, but Nathaniel and Rebecca certainly won’t complain. She gingerly toes off her flip-flops next to the tub and tests the water temperature with her feet.

“It’s alright, but I think we could make it a bit hotter in here, don’t you think?”

“I know we could,” he says with a knowing smile, the double meaning of her statement quite clear.

Rebecca turns up the dial a few degrees warmer and switches the jets on. When she turns back around to find Nathaniel, he’s already inside the tub, shirt discarded and waiting for her. Slowly, she places her feet back inside the tub, reaching back behind her to unzip her dress, and pulls it over her head. Tonight, she’s got on something new, a black lacy halter top and bottoms that leave little to the imagination with the same lace detailing accenting her hipbones.

“God damn,” he breathes, unable to say much of anything else. Rebecca smiles and sinks down in the water to join him.

“You know, pool rules say we shouldn’t stay in the hot tub longer than 15 minutes. How much do you think we can get accomplished in 15 minutes?”

“Are you gonna keep talking, or are you gonna come over here and ride me?”

She laughs. “I’m _definitely_ gonna keep talking.”

Rebecca swims up to him and straddles his hips, wrapping her arms around his neck as she kisses him, open-mouthed and eager for more. Nathaniel can’t help but let his hands wander her chest and admire the beautiful encasement. His dick stiffens at the mouth watering sight of her riding him just like this, pushing the barely-there bottoms aside and fucking him until she’s satisfied. God, it would be so easy too, and he definitely needs the relief after all of her merciless teasing tonight. But she’s in control, and she has to be the one to make that choice.

He thinks she’s going to when she takes one of his hands and guides it to her center, but she’s not quite ready for that yet, urging him to fill her with two of his fingers in the meantime while she continues to toy with him. Rebecca cups him underwater and relishes in the sound of his moan against her neck. She always loves the sounds he makes.

“Hey, what if I gave you a blowjob in here? Right now. Would you like that?”

Nathaniel’s eyes open, and he clears his throat. “A blowjob in a hot tub seems a little dangerous. I’m going to say no for now, purely for your sake, though I wouldn’t be opposed to using our pool to test that out later.”

She nods with a sultry smile and resumes kissing him with a moan as he uses his other hand to grip her hair and dive his tongue deeper into her mouth. He’s still scissoring his fingers inside of her, and when she’s stretched and wet enough for her liking, Rebecca reaches inside his shorts and pulls him out. She grinds her center down and searches for the right angle, her eyes rolling back when she finds it. Nathaniel starts to push his hips up into her, and he doesn’t realize he’s doing it until Rebecca stops moving and grabs his chin.

“No, I’m fucking _you_ tonight. Be still.”

Nathaniel groans and reaches underneath her top to play with her nipples as she rides him again. “God, you’re so fucking hot.”

The steam rises from the hot tub and conceals their bodies as they race towards their pleasure together. She’s been working him up all night, and he’s so close, but Rebecca won’t let him have what he wants just yet.

“Don’t you dare come,” she hisses. “I’m not through with you yet.”

Fuck, he’s sure if he wasn’t harnessing all of his iron willpower in that moment that he would have exploded inside of her. Nathaniel tips his head back and focuses on his breathing to keep him calm as Rebecca frantically finds her release. She comes around him, digging her nails into his skin and repeating his name into his ear. It’s beautiful watching her fall apart above him, and she lets herself relax into his loose hold.

She kisses him softly as the water continues to swirl around them, and she almost convinces him to stay another 15 minutes in the tub, but he makes her see how worthwhile it would be to get naked in bed. They make their way back to their room, both dripping wet and uncaring. Nathaniel grabs them both towels from the bathroom before she collapses into bed, and they dry themselves off quickly before crawling into bed together, resuming their previous position with Nathaniel sitting up against the headboard and Rebecca in his lap. He rolls his hips up insistently, and Rebecca eventually concedes and takes pity on him, scooting down the bed and covering his dick with her mouth.

“Fuck, Rebecca,” he groans, his fingers latching in her scalp. The heat from her wet mouth is mesmerizing, and he can’t get enough of her. “Need to be in you,” he says gravelly as she works her tongue around him. She picks her head up and releases him with a pop, reaching for a condom on the bedside table.

Rebecca quickly rolls the condom on and moves over him, taking him inside of her once more, the stretch burning pleasurably. She hisses as she sinks down but lets herself relax in his arms once he’s buried fully in. This feels good, so wonderful. She needs it more than she can express. Nathaniel places his hands on her hips as she moves up and down and groans, long and needy, in her ear. She’s moving torturously slow, and while it’s incredibly sexy, she’s basically been edging him all night, so it’s nearly impossible for him to hold out his release much longer.

“I wanna fuck you. Can I do that?” Rebecca lifts her head and nods with a smile playing at her lips. He swiftly turns them over and and kisses her when he pushes back inside of her. “God, Rebecca. You’re unbelievable. Feel so good.”

“Nathaniel,” she sighs against his lips. Her voice ascends in pitch as he speeds up the pace of his thrusts, repeating his name with a variety of curses sprinkled in to the world’s most sinful prayer.

“I’m so close. Come with me.”

Rebecca nods and directs his hand to her clit while she toys with her nipples. He matches the circling of his thumb to the rhythm of his thrusting, and combined with his broken sounds against her neck, it’s a quick recipe for her impending orgasm. Nathaniel ends up coming first, biting a mark into her flesh and apologizing softly. While he’s still inside of her, he continues to rub her sensitive clit to trigger her release, and it’s only a few moments before she’s crashing over the edge with him, her walls clenching and pulsing madly around him.

Soon, they’re both still and sated and staring at each other. Rebecca pushes back the damp hairs hanging near his eyes and kisses him gently. He’s memorizing this look of hers, in her eyes, her lips, her skin, all of it. She’s warm and soft and pliable, and he never wants to let her go. Her blue eyes sparkle in the midnight moonlight, and he’s completely captivated by her beauty, despite looking the complete opposite of put-together. Nathaniel sighs and presses a kiss to her forehead before rolling to the side of her.

She turns on her side to face him. “Hi,” she says softly.

“Hi,” he answers back, his arm curling around the back of her shoulders. Rebecca has the urge to fill the air with talking, but she stops herself when she takes in the dreamy look on Nathaniel’s face, so peaceful and content. She doesn’t need to say anything, the moment begging to be spared its intimacy. Rebecca instead scoots closer to him, tucks herself into his arm, and kisses his chest right above his heart.

“I love you, Nathaniel,” she whispers, closing her eyes and laying her head on his chest.

“I love you, Rebecca,” he replies trying to hold back the emotions building bubbles in his throat. He swallows the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

It’s rare that she’s the first to say she loves him, and she’s never said she loves him like that, so genuine and delicate. Before he falls asleep, he thinks about how lucky he is that she gave him a second chance to prove himself how much he loves her. He promises to both her and himself that he won’t mess this up this time.

* * *

The next morning, their last full one on the island, Nathaniel wakes up late and finds the left side of the bed cold. He sits up and immediately panics about where Rebecca could be, hoping she’s not hurt or upset. When he looks out on the balcony, she’s not there, and his heart begins to race. Immediately, he tosses the covers off and races out of the bedroom to find her, almost colliding with her when she appears in the doorway wearing a Stanford t-shirt with two cups of coffee in hand.

“Whoa! Now that’s a sight I could get used to seeing in the morning,” she quips, unabashedly looking his fully naked body up and down. He exhales a shaky breath. “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I just didn’t know where you were. I couldn’t hear you or anything, so I just freaked out.”

She hands him his mug and scoots past him into the bedroom nonchalantly. “Dude, it’s not like if I disappear that I’m just gonna kill myself or…” She turns back around and finds Nathaniel staring into his coffee uncomfortably. “You totally assumed that, didn’t you?” Rebecca sighs when he doesn’t say anything and sets her coffee down. “Nathaniel…”

He places his mug on the dresser and lets his words fly from his mouth without thinking. “I’m sorry, okay? I know it’s wrong to assume things like that, but I can’t stand the thought of losing you again. It just scares me when I don’t know where you are. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

Rebecca steps back towards him. “I know, but you can’t always be scared of that. I’m working really hard in therapy, and I know my resources now.”

Nathaniel shifts from foot to foot, and Rebecca takes both of his hands in hers. “Hey, listen to me. Remember what we talked about? About you being scared that I might leave you?” He nods. She reaches up and places one of his hands near her heart and one of her hands on his. “I’m not going anywhere any time soon. Not if I have anything to say about it.”

He nods again, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear before kissing her softly. She wraps her arms around his middle and leans into him for a hug. Nathaniel hugs her fiercely, his strong arms around her back and his nose buried in her disheveled hair. Rebecca finds herself melting even further into his embrace as he continues to hold her, and she lets all notions of time fall away because this feels magnificent. She’s unsure how long it’s been when he finally pulls away with a final squeeze and a kiss in her hair.

“Come sit with me,” she says, grabbing her coffee mug and opening the door to their balcony in hopes he’ll come along. He throws on his boxers and brings his coffee outside with him to sit next to her on the loveseat overlooking the water. Rebecca tucks her legs underneath her and snuggles into his side as the small waves crash against the faraway shore.

They’ve shared rare moments like this, the first he can recall being the morning after Hector and Heather’s wedding.

When she sweeps him clear off his feet and bluntly asks him to be her date to the impromptu ceremony the day prior, he nearly spits out his coffee at his desk, unsure of how to react beyond stammering out a hesitant acceptance. She asks him to meet her at the church, still wanting to not label anything just yet, and he agrees until he sees her standing at the podium bathed in golden sunlight and instantly falls in love with her all over again. That pinkish shade of coral makes her eyes pop and her skin glow, and he swears she’s angelic. The reception afterwards is lively with the hope of new young love, and the newlyweds keep the festivities as casual and spur-of-the-moment as they are, popping a bottle of champagne on the grass outside the church and moving into the decorated gym for the cake.

Preserving the sanctity of the church per Father Brah’s request, alcohol is left outside the facility, but he sanctions the after party at Home Base, and it proves to be a night to remember. Heather shuts the place down (she does own it, after all) and lets the real party commence with the first round of shots on the house. The lights dim, the music builds, and there’s no sleep till midnight. For Rebecca and Nathaniel, though, it’s no sleep till half past three. She has the house to herself for the night, and Rebecca tipsily asks Nathaniel if she wants to continue the party back at her place. With the wide-eyed sexy look in her eyes, he’s helpless to resist her.

Early that next morning, she’s got on his half-buttoned soft gray shirt stirring a cup of coffee in the kitchen when he wraps his arms around her waist behind her and kisses her hair. He calls her “sunshine” for the first time, which makes her heart melt on site, and they kiss with no destination as the dawn breaks through the kitchen window. She invites him out to the porch, the site of their last confrontation, and they vow to do things differently. It’s where they create a new beginning for their story, not a complete removal of the chapters before, but the formation of a “part two,” a new section to build on and learn from what came before.

Today, they’re writing a new chapter about learning how to just be together. No formalities, no expectations, just being comfortable together with no pretense. Coffee on her porch becomes a regular thing for them now that they don’t share an office, but he raids the kitchen’s junk drawer for a sticky note to write her a sweet message when they don’t have the time to sit together in the morning. They get to enjoy the time together right now, and it’s a serenely beautiful scene.

She drains her coffee quickly but refuses to move from the comfortable position she’s in. The wind blows, and when she shivers, Nathaniel moves to grab a blanket, but she gets up before he can, fluttering back into the bedroom on her tiptoes and quickly coming back to snuggle up next to him and cover them both with the blanket. Every so often, Nathaniel finds a tangle in her hair and works it out with his fingers, but they’re mostly still and quiet watching the scene around them.

They sit outside for a while and don’t bother to keep track of time until Rebecca’s stomach grumbles, her embarrassed giggle breaking the comfortable silence. A few hours must have passed, the two of them completely unaware of it. She lifts her head and kisses him before standing up and bringing her coffee mug back inside. He follows behind her with the blanket tucked under his arm and a soft smile.

Relaxing seems to be the main item on the agenda, though talking to one current and one former lawyer, relaxing isn’t exactly a staple in their vocabularies. Today, though, they have no problem taking a load off to clear their heads and enjoy this uninterrupted time together while they can. The pool seems to be the perfect place for their relaxation, and they’re both unsure of how long they spend in the water just talking. It’s really quite nice.

Nathaniel later decides to be a bit more adventurous and jumps into the lagoon to swim with the marine life, thousands of brightly colored fish swimming in the vast expanse of water. He convinces Rebecca to at least dip her toes in and stay with him for a few minutes. A dolphin swims near her vicinity, and she squeaks, clinging onto Nathaniel and watching it rise majestically out of the water with a tiny squeak of its own.

“Hey, that dolphin is almost as high-pitched as you,” Nathaniel teases, and she tugs on his ear. “Hey, hey! No need to be hostile, I’m kidding!” Rebecca rolls her eyes and kisses his cheek as she holds onto him and watches the fish swim around her.

They fall asleep early after dinner since they have a flight to catch the next morning, and while they know that vacations don’t last forever and there’s responsibilities at home waiting for them, it’s hard not to feel a little saddened by the thought of leaving.

* * *

Rebecca wakes up the next morning cuddled protectively in Nathaniel’s embrace and looks up at him, sleep still clouding her eyes. “Can we stay like this forever?”

He smiles down at her, kissing her head and squeezing her tighter. “I wish we could. But just because we’re leaving doesn’t mean we can’t stay this way forever.”

“What do you mean?”

Nathaniel takes a deep breath and brushes her hair back from her face. “I was planning to wait until we got back to approach the subject, but I think now’s a better time than any. I wanted to ask you something that’s been on my mind for a while.”

Rebecca’s heart begins to thump loudly inside her chest, and Nathaniel keeps stroking her back as he talks to calm her. “You and I have been together for a few months now, and these have been some of the greatest few months of my life. I love waking up next to you, having coffee on your porch, obviously having sex with you isn’t half bad,” he says, wagging his eyebrows, and she puffs out air with a smile. “And I want to keep doing those things and more with you. So… what would you say about moving in together?”

Her mouth opens and closes a few times before trying to form words. “Wow, Nathaniel, this is… wow…”

“You don’t have to say anything right now. I’m not expecting you to. It’s a big decision, and I know you’re probably scared.”

“I’m just shocked is all,” she says sitting up. Rebecca takes a moment to catch her breath, and a smile breaks across her face as she tries to make sense of her thoughts.

“You know, this is actually pretty convenient timing now that Heather’s moving out and leaving me and Valencia is heading to New York. I don’t know who else I would live with, really. It’s not like people are banging down my door to come live with me in my super cool murder house. Plus, I don’t know, it might be fun. That is, of course, if you can stomach the thought of me eating in bed.”

“That’s what kitchen tables are made for,” Nathaniel says matter-of-factly. “As you know, I have a very nice, very expensive one—“

“That you never use because you never cook. But also, why would you when beds are so much more comfortable? And they’re multi-use surfaces for eating… other things too.”

Nathaniel’s hand skims up her leg and around to her ass. “Mmm, you know, I do enjoy eating _some_ things in bed. I think I could make an exception to that rule just for you.”

“Mmmkay,” she giggles as he kisses her lips.

“So, is that a yes?”

Rebecca pauses for a moment, looks away contemplatively, and turns back to him with a smile, nodding her head. “Yes.”

She laughs as he quickly kisses her once more and wraps her in a hug. He whispers his love for her against her neck before pulling away to get dressed for their return back home.

Rebecca sleeps a large majority of the ride home, and Nathaniel even manages to catch a few non-consecutive hours of sleep on the plane. They’re back in California later that night, and while it’s sad to be home, they have many things to look forward to in the coming days.

“So, your place or _ours_ ,” Nathaniel asks with a smile.

Rebecca smiles back at him when he kisses her temple, but she takes a breath and looks up at him. “Could you bring me back to my place? It’s not that I don’t want to spend more time with you or anything, but you’re gonna get enough of spooning me soon, and I really would love to be back in my own bed, even though yours is decidedly more comfortable by a long shot.”

He nods, his eyes soft and endearing. “Of course, sunshine.”

Nathaniel drops her off back at her house, and Rebecca walks into her quiet home with a sigh. The silence used to overwhelm her and taunt her that she would never be able to have a normal life and relationship and warm bed to crawl into at night. But she doesn’t have to feel that way anymore. The silence reassures her that even though she’s cried through many lonely nights, she’s not destined for a lonely life. Now, the silence is a friendly reminder of how hard she’s worked and now she’ll see the payoff soon.

Nathaniel is used to being alone. He’s always found ways to entertain himself and keep busy when there’s no one to keep him company. In some ways, he prefers to be alone because it helps him accomplish more and block out any unnecessary distractions. He likes being alone except when he goes home. There’s something about walking into an empty home that reminds him of how empty his life is sometimes too. It’s cold and distant and isolated… at least it was until he met Rebecca. She brought joy and color and compassion into his life, completely changed the way he saw the world, and knocked him head over heels from that very first day. He’s forever changed because of her.

Now she gets to bring her joy and color and compassion into his home, too, and he looks forward to many days and nights with her.

* * *

When she moves in a month later, immediately, she’s sorting items, and he’ll hear her mumble every so often, “Nope, doesn’t spark joy.”

“Ok, while you figure what doesn’t ‘spark joy’ in my… what did you call it? My ‘conventionally masculine and utterly boring bachelor pad?’ Yeah, you do that, I’m going for a run.”

“Be safe! Don’t work too hard,” Rebecca says while examining items on a bookshelf.

“That’s the whole point of a run: working hard.” He laughs and kisses her cheek on his way out the door. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she calls to him with a smile. When the door closes, she turns her nose up in disgust. “God, how can he live in such a joyless house? Makes me sad.”

Even though he refuses to make any major changes per Rebecca’s copious notes on how dreary and sad his belongings are, he tells her that what sparks joy in his house isn’t trophies or books or blenders. It’s her. And that’s the best kind of joy there is. He does concede on one thing and lets her fill a wall with a nature scene of her choosing. She comes back with an image of seaside cliffs, the sandy beach too much of a parallel to her previous home. The cliffs serve his desire of masculine energy, her want for something that makes her joyful, and gives them both reminder to take a leap and face their fears together.

Though he doesn’t have a porch to sit outside and drink coffee with her in the morning, the rooftop is a close second with a view of early morning Los Angeles before the crowd and smog sets in. Their talks are more intimate up there when it’s just the two of them and the sky listening. It’s their secret haven where it can be the two of them together and nothing else matters.

* * *

A few months pass, and it’s a Saturday morning, usually day six of a work week for the pair of them. She has pretzel prep to get done at the shop, and he’s planning to go to the office to finish up some briefs for their upcoming meetings. Rebecca convinced herself she was going to go in early and be done so she could enjoy the rest of her day, but when Nathaniel woke her with his tongue between her legs, she quickly changed her mind. Going in before noon probably won’t be happening today.

Eventually, they’re both sated and kissing mindlessly when Nathaniel peeks over to check the clock. It’s a quarter to ten, so he gets up to start making coffee while Rebecca cleans herself up in the bathroom. She doesn’t bother with a shower since pretzel prep can get messy, and she’ll be thankful for the shower later, but she spritzes some dry shampoo in her hair and fashions it into her signature bun with the rest of her hair hanging loose and wavy behind her. She picks out her outfit, just a simple loose-fitting shirt and jeans, and heads into the kitchen to find Nathaniel busy working on something that she can’t quite figure out.

“Whatcha doin’ over there,” she asks curiously.

Nathaniel’s head shoots up, and he clears his throat. “Uhhh, nothing. Hey, ummm, could you get my pants out of the dryer, please?”

“Yeah, okay.” He smiles at her, obviously trying to distract her from something. “You’re up to something. I’m gonna figure out what it is.”

She brings his pants to where he’s waiting for her near the couch. “Hey,” he says softly, gently grasping her arm. She looks up at him, and he kisses her sweetly. When he pulls away, he tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear. “You’re beautiful every day, but you look especially beautiful today.”

“Thank you.” She’s sweet for a moment, embracing his compliment, until she asks, arching her eyebrow, “Now, what do you want?” She knows how flattery works. Nathaniel’s hands settle on her hips as he stares at her in shock.

“What, I can’t just tell my girlfriend she’s beautiful? I’m a little offended.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ll get over it,” Rebecca teases, kissing him once more before heading into the kitchen to make her coffee.

Her mug is waiting next to the pot, and she pours herself a cup and adds some cream before stirring. She turns around to find the sugar on the island so she can scoop some into her mug when she finds sugar dumped all over the countertop.

Written in the granules is a message: “Marry me?”

Rebecca looks quizzically at the message and sets down her coffee mug. “Ha ha, very funny, Nathaniel. I guess today we’re both in the mood for jo— oh my god.”

She rounds the counter, and there’s Nathaniel, fully dressed and down on one knee, ring in hand, in the living room, the biggest grin she’s ever seen plastered on his face. Rebecca covers her mouth, unable to say anything other than “oh my god” as a tear leaks from her eyes.

“Oh my god… oh my god, oh my god, _oh my god._ Wow, oh my god.”

He laughs. “Can I say what I was going to say? I have a whole speech and everything.” Rebecca nods, starting to cry before he’s said anything.

“Do you know why I’m doing this today?” She shakes her head. “Because a year ago today, I asked you to go on an adventure with me. This time last year, you and I were in a fragile place in our relationship, everything was so new and scary, but we are so much stronger than we were then. We’ve been through so much together, and I knew someday that I would love you ever since you came into the conference room wearing that ridiculous purple and pink bathing suit. I’m glad you made better fashion choices in Bora Bora.”

Rebecca laughs through her tears, wiping her eyes. Nathaniel takes another deep breath.

“Rebecca, I love you with everything that I have and everything that I am. You came in, knocked down, and rearranged everything I thought I knew about myself and the world, and I am so thankful each day that you did. I am so lucky to know you, and I don’t know where I would be without you. You are the light in my life, the joy in my heart, and the one person I would be honored to spend the rest of my life with. We only get one life, and I want to share it with you. So, how about it, sunshine? Will you go on the adventure of a lifetime and marry me?”

Before he can finish the question, Rebecca nods as she cries. “Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times, yes, of course I’ll marry you!” She kneels down with him and hugs him fiercely, crying happily into his neck. She’s so overcome by joy, and it makes Nathaniel’s heart swell. “I love you so much,” she whispers.

“I love you too.”

When she eventually pulls away, Nathaniel slips the ring on her finger. It’s an heirloom from Heidi that she gave to him as a high school graduation gift before she went back to Austria and told him to save it for the someone special in his life. How fitting that he gives a present from the first person to teach him love to the person who taught him how to love again. It’s a beautiful sort of coincidence. Nathaniel thought he would never find the one to make his heart sing like Heidi would always go on about. And then along came Rebecca to show him everything he had been missing.

They kiss softly in the brightly-lit living room, sunlight streaming through the thin curtains and filling the room with an overwhelming light.

Two people, unsure of how to love before, find love in each other. Their mistakes and shortcomings aren’t erased or omitted; they’re real and visible, but they’re planting seeds and sprouting flowers among those weeds. It’s been said that “the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of them all,” and when Rebecca finally made Nathaniel sit down and watch _Mulan_ with her upon moving in, she made the comparison of their love being like that flower.

Their love hasn’t been easy. It’s seen harsh winters and long periods of drought, but it’s also seen fresh falls of rain and abundant sunshine. It continues to grow and blossom as each day, they remind each other of what it means to love and to trust and to care.

Winters may be long, California may not see rain for months on end, and the sun may hide behind smoky clouds some days, but those are merely days. There’s a lifetime of adventures in store for them.

**Author's Note:**

> So, thank you for sticking with me through 20,000 words of... whatever this was! I've been working on this for a long time, and I'm so glad it's finally all come together. I really hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> Feel free to leave comments, and I'm always taking prompts for new, fun things to work on! Find me on Tumblr @itsme-ashley-marie :)


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